long weekends

So now that I'm back working full time I'm now yearning for that long weekend coming up. Not for a sleep in - hubbie was good enough to let me have long long sleep in Sunday after the party - taking munchkin so I napped till nearly 1230! But for the not getting up at 6am on a Monday. Don't get me wrong. I like the folks I work with - I actually started on calls yesterday and excited to get going. I have a new co-worker - an inspiring lady in her 40's who has climbed alps and Himalayas etc. Seriously. So we are going to start walking in our gym downstairs a couple days a week. I got up extra early this morning and tided away so that the wonderful cleaners can actually get around stuff to clean. We have a front room full of toys from his birthday and I think I'll go through them and put half them away so that he gets to play with a few at a time to keep it interesting. So that's why I've been quiet folks - just getting used to my new routine. I don't know how folks do it with more than one kid and work full time. Hopefully my new exercise will give me that daily boost to keep going. That or I'll have to buy shares in sugar free red bull...

guess what age I am

the cake

The cake we got wee man for Saturday. I'll get photos later from other folks but basically he stuck his hand in green icing and smeared it over his face and me. He likes icing. Not so much cake - just icing.

Dr Who Geeks

Every kid needs a Dalek voice changing helmet. However wee lad will have to get his own because that one is mine.. And now Dad has a cyberman voice changing helmet for himself.. Thankfully there's Ebay and wee lad will have his own cyberman costume for Halloween.. City of Campbell prepare... The geeks are here to stay...

charlies angels ... shark style

Who doesnt remember Charlies Angels... We all got that pose down. What we are doing in a shark mouth is another story...

i'm not ok till that first cup of water...

its the casual one handed swig that makes me laugh... This is normally of course before he flings it...

birthday boy

Our wee lad turned One last Wednesday. We had a small wee cake on the Wednesday with me , hubbie and wee hobbit (that Mammy got free in Safeway after much battling to get the free cake but wasnt stepping down from the offer..) and then Saturday a BBQ in park with friends who helped us ring in the celebration. Good time had by all. The BBQ had adults and kids in sacks racing away and pinatas being hit while babies sat and played under canopy with Mammys.

Its not only his birthday but our anniversary as parents. How did we do? Well wee Gandalf has 6 teeth, a huge smile for everyone, chats away, loves phones, stands on his own, starting taking steps, loves talking, playing and tiggles. He makes us laugh and we count all our blessings for the family we have built here from friends and makes us closer to our own families far away as we send them email updates and photos.

We're blessed. Its that simple. Happy Birthday fair haired wee F1 McCool. We love you.

first guitar

IMG_2091.JPG
Originally uploaded by hikingviking

Fionn playing his wee guitar outside of the picture people session. He loves this wee guitar and says gootar :-)

Will blog the other photos later but loved this one

now it goes now it doesnt

So had some car trouble when I was off the week before starting new job. That's the time to have it right! So I asked Midas guys to take a look. Been bringing my car to them for years now and happy with their service as they will tell me if it needs something

The issue was just first thing in morning car was having trouble starting. When started was fine and no problem rest of day

Brought it over - was fine. No problem. So I left it overnight to see if they had same issue as me. Nope. Started fine. Maybe its battery - they said its grand - a little low but fine. I said sure its 5 years old swap it out. (Want to point out they didn't think it was but did it after my asking)

Started fine for me for 3 days then started again. This time was afternoon and wouldn't start at all. (was first time that day). So I walked over to Enterprise - rented a car and car seat and picked munchkin up and next morning called AAA to come tow my SUV to Midas

AAA came at 8am with big yellow tow truck. Explained issue again and he said why don't we try starting it. He started it on first go. So he left and plan was for me to drive over, himself in car behind me and drop off at Midas

I got in car and started - no starting car. Called AAA again

Another AAA guy came with even bigger yellow tow truck. I told him what happened. He tried to start car and of course it started first go...

So he was nice enough and said I will tow it over for you. Driving it into street and then pulling on truck. When he started it again I noticed something

Wait a minute I said.. (shouting from rental car window).. Did you put your foot on gas when you started it. No he said - it doesn't need that as its a newer car automatic they have fuel pump that does that for you. Well I do I said and I think that's the issue.

So brought to Midas and they started it of course no issue

Wait I said, try starting with your foot on gas.. And sure enough wouldn't start. For about a year my gas gauge broken - they told me expensive to fix so left it and just kept an eye on how many miles i did. Well turns out the float in fuel pump was gone so when I put my foot on gas blocked it and wouldn't start. Unfortunately wasn't a case of just not doing that - fuel pump on its way out and if I hadn't driven like that would have probably gone while I was driving and engine would have been really screwed..

So now all good. New fuel pump. She starts fine and I am leaving my foot off gas when it starts.. Just in case...

folk singer

I have to get this on video but one of the funniest thing wee lad is doing is shaking his head side to side and trying to wink but blinks while nodding his head at you. Think of a bad folk singer or cheesy lounge act winking at you or trying to and that's the effect. Has us in stitches when he does it. Himself thinks its like an impression of Stevie Wonder while I'm thinking all he needs is an Aran jumper (Irish Cable Sweater) and he'd be set. I think we had the class clown..

apples not falling far from the tree

Here's wee lad sitting in his new chair his Godfather Arv got him for his upcoming birthday.. We were laughing saying it will do him till hes about 7 - its very cute though and has his name on back


So our wee lad said door pointing to it as we came in, cars is also a new word, tree is still here, shoes (attempt at shoes but he kept pointing to them, picked them up and put them against his feet - even we got the hint..

nanana - is banana, sometimes even with a b but not often. nahnah seems to be no sometimes or can be i want something. Book again was yesterday pointing and 'reading his book'.

We also say where's wee lad and he pops his head up and we say there you are.. and last week and this he says there you are .. its not as clear as that but we were laughing..

The funniest one though is hiya, ello, where he puts his hand to his ear and pretends hes on a telephone. He will hold anything up to his ear and chat, even pausing like the other person is chatting and saying yeah yeah.. He so far has held up some strange things to his ear and said hello and chatted - a piece of beef yesterday was the latest but a pickle last week was winning the strangest award. Sure why wouldn't he think everything is a phone, he sees us reading email on our iphone, taking his photo and then talking to it, me talking on a bluetooth, talking into a laptop on skype, on the handset phone and into the webcam. The doctor said hes very advanced for a boy verbally. Sure we werent that surprised. Of course he chats so much on phone you know then hes seen me do it. Some apples don't fall that far from the tree...

where did that week go?

So started new job last week - company that sells online meetings, virtual communications so companies can do collaborative work - web and then you have an ex beside it. they were bought over last year by cis co so the benefits are fantastic. First week typical madness - I have training all this week and last week I had pre-training. Part of which was watching all the online training videos for the products we have, so 22 hours of video. Also listened in to lots of calls of my team mates. Its nice being in an office again after being home so long.

So I get up now at 630, then feed munchkin and get ready myself to be in for 8 at the office. Not bad since its about 20-25 min away. Without traffic in morning its 15.Himself then gets wee lad up and brings him over to Catherine's for the day and then I pick him up on way home. He's in a much better mood for Daddy since I feed him early which is great.

He's doing great though - he stood up on his own at music two weeks ago, stood there for about 5 seconds before he realized he wasn't holding onto me. Hes stood up a few times now for me, again at music (now Saturday so I can take him) and at daycare but himself hadn't seen it yet

Well yesterday we were at an Irish Garden Party for the Irish Consulate here in Bay Area. Very posh duo. Ladies with hats on, himself had asked me did he need a morning suit, I laughed said we weren't British and meeting the Queen. So nice but not over the top. Golf nice he decided and he fit right in. Ladies were in summer dresses. There was another weelad 14 months that our wee lad played with (played at this age being a very loose term). They passed over a cup of ice back and forth and shared a liga biscuit :-) Our wee lad finally showed his Da that he could stand up and was standing a few times for more than 30 seconds. Very happy with himself and then he sat on his bum and the other lad laughed so much that our lad kept doing it to make him laugh. Guess we have the class clown...

goofball

Video of wee man last night being silly. He's got a great sense of humor. This is him playing the guitar.